A wheel assembly includes a brake rotor that is attached to a wheel hub for rotation about an axis. When utilized with an anti-lock brake system, a tone ring is often attached to a rotating wheel component, such as the brake rotor for example, to form part of a wheel speed sensor. Due to packaging constraints, it is often difficult to leave the tone ring attached to the brake rotor while still providing access to attachment bolts that are used to attach the brake rotor to the wheel hub.
In one known configuration, a single set of fasteners is used to attach the tone ring, brake rotor, and wheel hub together. In order to remove the brake rotor from the wheel hub for service, the tone ring must be removed from the brake rotor. Further, in order to remove the tone ring from the brake rotor for service, the brake rotor must be removed from the wheel hub. In either situation, labor costs and downtime are increased as a result of additional wheel components having to be removed from the wheel assembly.
One known attempted solution has been to provide a brake rotor with an integrally formed tone ring. This solution has several disadvantages. One disadvantage with this solution is that both the brake rotor and tone ring are formed from a common material. In order to reduce material costs and component weight, it is often desirable to form the tone ring and brake rotor from different materials. Another disadvantage is that if one component is damaged, i.e. if a portion of the brake rotor or a portion of the tone ring is damaged, then both components have to be replaced. This significantly increases service costs.
Thus, there is a need for a brake rotor, tone ring, and wheel hub configuration that allows for independent removal of the various components without requiring removal of all of the components.